#2
The 2016-17 Golden State Warriors
Regular Season: 67-15 (81.7)
Playoffs: 16-1 (94.1)
Total: 83-16 (83.8)
Award Winners;
Stephen Curry: 2nd Team All-NBA, All Star
Kevin Durant: Finals MVP, 2nd Team All-NBA, All Star
Draymond Green: Defensive Player of the Year, 1st Team All-Defense, All Star
Klay Thompson: 3rd Team All-NBA, All Star
Steve Kerr All Star head coach
As you know if you read the entry on the 2015 Warriors (and probably if you didn’t read it), Golden State in the 2010s changed the way basketball was played in the NBA, won a championship in 2015, and had the best regular season ever in 2016 only to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals. The round before that though, the Warriors were the ones down 3-1 in the Western Finals to Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant was one the best players in the league and played great in the series, averaging 30 points, 8 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.7 steals, but Golden State was able to beat the odds and win the series. Durant then shocked and disgusted pretty much everyone by signing with the Warriors that July.
It was and still is often characterized as non-competitive and even the “weakest move in NBA history.” Personally I don’t feel as strongly about it, but it is hard to imagine a superstar in the ‘90s losing to the Bulls in the playoffs and then joining them the next year, or doing the same with the Lakers or Celtics in the ‘80s. To paraphrase Michael Jordan, when he came into the league, he didn’t want to play with Larry Bird or Magic Johnson, but instead wanted to beat them. As angry and offended as many fans were by LeBron James and Chris Bosh joining Dwyane Wade in Miami in 2010, I think most would agree that Durant going to the Warriors was a pretty different situation. The ‘09-10 Heat were a 47 win team that was bounced in five games by the Celtics in the first round. The 2016 Warriors were a 73 win juggernaut that came within a game of winning their second straight title, and boasted a back to back MVP in Steph Curry. The last guy to win the MVP before Curry was Durant in 2014. Fans feared that anything resembling parity was dead in the NBA, and for the next two seasons they weren’t exactly wrong.
Kevin Durant was 28 in ‘16-17 and the small forward put up 25.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals on 53.7/37.5/87.5 shooting. It’s hard to say who was their best player though, as 28 year old point guard Stephen Curry averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals while shooting 46.8/41.1/89.8. 26 year old two guard Klay Thompson had 22.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting just about as well as Curry at 46.8/41.4/85.3. 26 year old power forward Draymond Green contributed some of everything, with 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1.4 blocks. Zaza Pachulia rounded out the starting five and Andre Iguodala continued to serve as sixth man. The Warriors weren’t quite as dominant in the regular season as the year before but were pretty close, going 67-15. The team still won 50 of its first 59 games and posted a 14 game winning streak through March and April.
In the first round, the Warriors met the 41-41 Portland Trail Blazers, led by Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. Draymond was everywhere in game one with an efficient 19 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 blocks and 3 steals, and Golden State won 121-109. They won 110-81 in game two, and despite a poor shooting night, Curry had 19 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. Green had a classic game, with 12 rebounds and 10 assists to go with 6 points and 3 blocks. They did it all despite Durant missing games two and three. The closest the series got was a 119-113 win in Portland game three. In game four, Curry had 37 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and a steal, making 12 of 20 from the field and 7 of 11 from three to help the Warriors complete the sweep, 128-103.
Golden State’s next opponents were the 51 win Utah Jazz, led by Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert and George Hill. They weren’t much more of a challenge though, and the series was another sweep. Game four in Utah was their biggest win at 121-95. Curry led the scoring again with 30 points plus 7 assists, 5 rebounds and a block. Draymond also put up a 17 point triple double with 11 assists, 10 rebounds and a steal.
The next team to be annihilated was the San Antonio Spurs, featuring Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, who won an impressive 61 games in their first year after the retirement of longtime leader Tim Duncan. The first game was close though, with the Warriors scraping out a two point win at the Oracle. The next three games were not close, and Golden State blew the Spurs away by between 12 and 36 points. The biggest win was 136-100 in game two, and Steph put up 29 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals while shooting 8 of 13 from the floor and 6 of 9 from three. Bench man Patrick McCaw shined as well with 18 points, 5 assists and 3 steals on 6 of 8 shooting.
In the Finals, the Warriors saw the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third straight year, once again led by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The first three games followed the pattern set by the first three rounds. Golden State smashed Cleveland in games one and two and won by five points in game three. The biggest win was 113-91 in game one. Kevin Durant had a big night with 38 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists while shooting 14 of 26. Curry was the only other Warrior in double digits with 28 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals and went 6 for 11 on threes. Klay had a great game three, with 30 points and 5 rebounds on 11 of 18 shooting, including 6 of 11 from three. When it was already too late, the Cavs thrashed Golden State 137-116 in game four in Cleveland. Kyrie Irving had a hell of a game, exploding for 40 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal while shooting 15 for 27, including 7 of 12 on threes. LeBron was LeBron as well, with 31 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and a steal for a triple double. The duo that terrorized the Dubs the year before turned it on too late though, and Golden State closed them out in game five, 129-120. Their 16-1 playoff record was the best ever, eclipsing the 15-1 mark set by the Lakers in 2001.
The next season wasn’t that different. They went 58-24 and won another NBA Championship, playing the Cavaliers in the Finals for the fourth straight year. They didn’t seem quite as invincible though. If it wasn’t for Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul’s injury during the Western Finals, the Warriors might’ve been eliminated before the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014, as Houston had led them three games to two. Their only playoff sweep that year was of the Cavs in the Finals, which were honestly not that exciting. Cleveland was lacking Kyrie Irving’s firepower, as he’d been traded to Boston in the Summer of ‘17.
This past season, they again posted a strong record of 57-25, and could’ve easily won another championship had they stayed healthy. Instead, Kevin Durant suffered a calf injury in game five of the second round against the Rockets. The Dubs were up 3-2 after game five and were able to clinch the series in game 6, then swept the Trail Blazers to make it back to the Finals against the Toronto Raptors. Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors won three of the first four games.
In game five, Durant made what turned out to be a premature return. He played great, with 11 points, 2 rebounds and a block in less than twelve minutes before rupturing his Achilles tendon, and is expected to miss all of next season. Shamefully, many in the Toronto crowd cheered when they saw one of the best players in the world go down with an injury. It goes to show how deep and honestly sick the hatred for Durant is among a lot of NBA fans. If Curry or Klay had gone down like that, I don’t think opposing fans would’ve responded the same way.
KD’s contributions were enough to help the Warriors eek out a one point win and extend the series. The Raptors took game six by just four points to win the title, and to make matters worse, Klay Thompson went down with a torn ACL in the 4th quarter, and won’t be back until late in the regular season in 2020 if not later. Despite the loss, the banged up Warriors played like champions. As expected, Durant left the Warriors in free agency and when he comes back in the ‘20-21 season, he’ll be playing for the Brooklyn Nets. On the upside, the Warriors signed another talented guard, D’Angelo Russell, formerly of the Nets, in the 2019 off-season. I guess we don’t know for sure if the Warriors dynasty is really dead, but it sure looks that way. The Warriors still made five straight Finals, something not done since the Celtics played in ten straight in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Love them or hate them, the Warriors of the Durant era truly were one of the greatest teams ever assembled.
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